Amnesty International: Belarus among 46 countries that imposed death sentences in 2024
On April 8, the international human rights organization Amnesty International published reports on the global practice of using the death penalty. Belarus is among 46 countries in the world that imposed death sentences in 2024, Pozirk writes.
Human rights activists have counted at least 2,075 death sentences and at least 1,508 executions worldwide. The large number of "+" indicators in the list and the lack of data on some countries known for their use of capital punishment suggest that the scale may be much larger.
Thus, human rights activists were able to confirm the imposition of death sentences in Egypt (365), Iraq (200+), Nigeria (186+), Bangladesh (165+), Yemen (152+), Vietnam (150+), India (139), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (125+), Pakistan (117+), Thailand (115), Indonesia (85+), Sudan (30+), the USA (26), Sri Lanka (25+), Malaysia (24), Mauritania (23+), Somalia (17+), Mali (16+), Niger (16+), Tanzania (12+), Tunisia (12+), Libya (11+), Algeria (8), Jordan (7+), Kuwait (7+), Myanmar (7+), Ghana (6), Singapore (5+), Ethiopia (3+), Japan (3), Kenya (3), South Sudan (3+), Laos (2+), Lebanon (2+), Morocco/Western Sahara, Botswana (1), Trinidad and Tobago (1), the UAE (1+), as well as Afghanistan, China, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Syria, for which there are no quantitative indicators.
According to the organization, last year death sentences were carried out in Iran (972+), Saudi Arabia (345+), Iraq (63+), Yemen (38+), Somalia (34+), the USA (25), Egypt (13), Singapore (6), Kuwait (9), Oman (3), as well as Afghanistan, Vietnam, China, North Korea, and Syria, for which there are no exact data.
Amnesty International has stated that Belarus is the only country in Europe where the death penalty is applied. Last year, a verdict was recorded in the case of German citizen Rico Krieger, who was convicted of an "act of terrorism" under several criminal articles as part of a closed-door trial. Krieger, the organization recalled, was pardoned and transferred to Germany as part of a wide prisoner exchange between Russia and Western countries.
"Due to state secrecy regarding the use of the death penalty, Amnesty International was unable to confirm how many people remain under death sentence in Belarus. However, it is known that a Belarusian citizen sentenced to death on October 19, 2023, appealed his sentence to the Supreme Court, which reviewed and rejected it on January 9, 2024," the human rights activists noted.
"It is believed that he remained under the death sentence at the end of 2024, as there was no information available to refute this, and there was no information about his possible execution. Against this background, Amnesty International believes that as of the end of 2024, at least one person remained on death row in Belarus," the report says.
This refers to Aliaksandr Taratuta, who was found guilty of murdering his young son.
